Connection for articulated car

ABSTRACT

The connection is of the rotary type and is nonresilient. A draw bar has a rounded head at each end received in respective sockets in adjacent ends of railway cars. A removable shim is provided in each socket to minimize excessive longitudinal slack.

0 United States Patent 91 [111 3,709,376 Altherr [451 Jan. 9, 1973 1 CONNECTION FOR ARTICULATED [56] References Cited CAR UNITED STATES PATENTS [75] V lnventor: Russell G. Altherr, Munster,-lnd.

1,889,297 11/1932 Russell ..280/5ll [73] Assigneez AMSTED Industries Incorporated, 1,537,249 5/1925 Manley.. ..280/493 Chicago, Ill. 2,268,181 12/1941 Bolton... ..280/493 [22] Filed: Sept 1970 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman [21] Appl, M 73,923 Attorney-Walter L. Schlegel, Jr. and Russell W. Pyle [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl ..213/62 R, 213/72, 213/111,

280/402 280/494 280/5 The connection 15 of the rotary type and 18 non- [51] Int Cl i 5/00 resilient. A draw bar has a rounded head at each end Fie'ld 1 11 received in respective sockets in adjacent ends of railway cars. removable shim is provided in each socket to minimize excessive longitudinal slack;

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 17 15 2 1 f V v 1 V va T T 1 I /W//4Y/r PATENTED JAN 9 I975 SHEET 1 OF 2 CONNECTION FOR ARTICULATED CAR This invention relates to articulated trains and more particularly to a nonresilient connection between adjacent cars that permits relative angulation and rotation therebetween.

An object of this invention is to provide a slack-free rotary connection between adjacent railway cars that does not require the use of connecting pins or draft gear.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view of a semipermanent connection that incorporates features of the presently described invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along section line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial horizontal sectional view of the connection shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modification to a portion of the structure shown in FIGS. 1-3, said view being taken along a line corresponding to section line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

The rotary connection herein described is nonresilient and essentially comprises a draw bar or rod having a ball configuration at each end received in respective sockets rigidly secured to adjacent cars. Means are also provided for taking up available longitudinal slack between each ball configuration and its respective socket. For the sake of brevity, the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 includes only half of the total arrangement, it being understood that the draw bar is symmetrical about the axis X-X (FIG. 1), with the end not shown being substantially identical to the illustrated end and being received in a socket substantially identical to that shown.

It may be seen in FIGS. 1-3 that the draw bar includes a head at each end thereof comprising forward opposed spherical pulling faces 12 and 14, it being understood that a forward direction denotes a direction toward the transverse center of the bar. The head also includes opposed spherical vertical support surfaces 16 and 18 having the same center of rotation as that of the pulling faces 12 and 14. Preferably, the radius of the pulling faces 12 and 14 is greater than the radius of the surfaces 16 and 18. Respective inwardly curving surfaces 17 and 19 are provided between corresponding adjacent surfaces 12 and 16, and 14 and 18, respectively. The extreme end of the head comprises a rearwardly facing spherical buffing surface 22 having a center 24 located forward of the center 20, with both of said centers being located along the central draft axis AA ofthe bar 10.

As best illustrated in FIG. 3, the head further comprises substantially flat and opposed side surfaces 26 and 28 connecting the opposed pulling faces 12 and 14 and support surfaces 16 and 18, although it is within the scope of this invention to extend the opposed pulling and support surfaces completely around the head to provide single continuous pulling and support surfaces, or in the alternative, a single spherical surface to provide both pulling and support functions.

The socket arrangement for receiving the head of the draw bar is rigidly secured within a rectangular support of which the top member 30 is part of the center sill of the car body having spaced side walls 32 and 34 depending therefrom, said side walls including outwardly diverging bottom flanges 36 and 38. A lower plate 40 is secured across the side walls 32 and 34 by means of rivets, such as 42 and 44, passing through aligned apertures in each flange 36 and 38 and! the lower plate 40.

The forward portion of the socket is formed by abutting top and bottom blocks 46 and 48 that define therebetween adjacent concave spherical surfaces 50 and 52 that conformably receive or mate with the respective pulling faces 12 and 14' and support faces 16 and 18 of the draw bar 10. The blocks 46 and 48 also define a forward opening 49 (FIG. 2) through which the draw bar 10 projects, with sufficient clearance to permit angling of the bar. The concave spherical surfaces 50 and 52 are separated by a slight recess 54 to allow sufficient clearance for angulation of the bar 10. The side surfaces 26 and 28 of the head of the bar 10 are spaced from the concave spherical surfaces 50 and 52. It may be seen that the top block 46 is welded to the top member 30 of the support, and the bottom block 48 is supported on the lower plate 40 and restrained against forward movement by a pair of stops 56.

The rear portion of the socket is defined by a separate follower block 58 having; a concave cavity 60 therein to conformably receive the spherical buffing surface 22 of the bar 10, said block being supportable on the lower plate 40 with sufficient vertical clearance between the top of said block and the top member 30 to allow slight vertical movements of said block. A pair of rear stops 62 and 64 are secured by rivets or other suitable means to respective side walls 32 and 34 of the support. A spacer plate 66 is interposed between the rear stops 62 and 64 and the flat rear surface 68 of the follower block 58. The spacer plate 66 is supported by a separate bottom plate 70 removably secured between the support side walls 32 and 34 by bolts 72 or the like passing through aligned apertures in said plate and respective bottom flanges 36 and 38. The spacer plate 66 is selected to be of a thickness necessary to minimize slack along the draft axis A-A between the head and the socket.

An additional feature to the above described assembly is shown in FIG. 4, only half of the structure being shown and it being understood that the other half is identical to the portion shown. A tubular member having a rounded head 82 is slidab'ly mounted within a second tube 84 extending through an aperture 86 in each of the side walls of the head, such as the wall 28, with a loaded coil spring 88 within thvinner tube 80 to urge said member outwardly. The rounded head 82 is engageable with a spherical depression 90 in the wall of the socket, which causes the head to be locked into position during pulling operations, but allows the head to rotate in the socket when sufficient rotary force is applied thereto.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: t

1. A connection for rotatably connecting adjacent ends of railway cars comprising a draw bar having a head at each end thereof, each of said heads comprising spaced upper and lower forward spherical pulling surfaces, spaced upper and lower spherical support surfaces adjacent respective upper and lower pulling surfaces, an inwardly curvedsurface lbetween respective upper and lower spherical surfaces, a convex spherical end surface on the extreme end of said head, and socket means rigidly secured to adjacent ends of said cars, each of said socket means slidably contacting said upper and lower spherical pulling support surfaces and said end surface, said socket means comprising upper and lower abutting blocks defining therebetween a partial spherical cavity conformably receiving said upper and lower pulling and support surfaces, and a follower block spaced from said abutting blocks and having a concave spherical depression therein receiving said end surface of said head, and means for adjusting the distance between said follower block and said abutting blocks.

2. The connection of claim 1 wherein the means for adjusting the distance between said follower block and said abutting blocks comprises a stop spaced from the rear side of said follower block, a shim between said stop and the rear side of said follower block, and a removable plate supporting said shim.

3. The connection of claim 1 wherein said head includes a pair of flat spaced side walls connected between the upper pulling and support surfaces and the lower pulling support surfaces, opposed apertures in said side walls, a spring loaded member having an end extending through each of said apertures, and a depression in said socket for receiving the end of each member.

4. The connection of claim 1 wherein the socket means are rigidly secured in the center sill of the car body, said sill including a top member and depending side walls, and a bottom plate secured between said side walls, said bottom plate supporting said lower abutting block.

5. In a rotary mounting for a railway coupler draw bar member within a pocket of a railway vehicle member; the combination of a flat segment on said bar member terminating at its inner end in a buffing surface rotatably engageable with a surface defining the inner end of said pocket in said vehicle member, a plurality of separable blocks mounted in abutting relationship with each other in said vehicle member to define a substantially continuous parti-spherical draft surface on said blocks surrounding said segment, spaced partispherical draft faces at opposite edges of said segment complementary to and engageable with said draft surface, and resilient detent means carried by one of said members and engageable with the other of said members to releaseably restrain said bar member from rotating to a position whereat said draft faces engage mating edges of adjacent blocks during pulling of said vehicle member by said draft bar member during normal upright movement of the vehicle in railway service. 

1. A connection for rotatably connecting adjacent ends of railway cars comprising a draw bar having a head at each end thereof, each of said heads comprising spaced upper and lower forward spherical pulling surfaces, spaced upper and lower spherical support surfaces adjacent respective upper and lower pulling surfaces, an inwardly curved surface between respective upper and lower spherical surfaces, a convex spherical end surface on the extreme end of said head, and socket means rigidly secured to adjacent ends of said cars, each of said socket means slidably contacting said upper and lower spherical pulling support surfaces and said end surface, said socket means comprising upper and lower abutting blocks defining therebetween a partial spherical cavity conformably receiving said upper and lower pulling and support surfaces, and a follower block spaced from said abutting blocks and having a concave spherical depreSsion therein receiving said end surface of said head, and means for adjusting the distance between said follower block and said abutting blocks.
 2. The connection of claim 1 wherein the means for adjusting the distance between said follower block and said abutting blocks comprises a stop spaced from the rear side of said follower block, a shim between said stop and the rear side of said follower block, and a removable plate supporting said shim.
 3. The connection of claim 1 wherein said head includes a pair of flat spaced side walls connected between the upper pulling and support surfaces and the lower pulling support surfaces, opposed apertures in said side walls, a spring loaded member having an end extending through each of said apertures, and a depression in said socket for receiving the end of each member.
 4. The connection of claim 1 wherein the socket means are rigidly secured in the center sill of the car body, said sill including a top member and depending side walls, and a bottom plate secured between said side walls, said bottom plate supporting said lower abutting block.
 5. In a rotary mounting for a railway coupler draw bar member within a pocket of a railway vehicle member; the combination of a flat segment on said bar member terminating at its inner end in a buffing surface rotatably engageable with a surface defining the inner end of said pocket in said vehicle member, a plurality of separable blocks mounted in abutting relationship with each other in said vehicle member to define a substantially continuous parti-spherical draft surface on said blocks surrounding said segment, spaced parti-spherical draft faces at opposite edges of said segment complementary to and engageable with said draft surface, and resilient detent means carried by one of said members and engageable with the other of said members to releaseably restrain said bar member from rotating to a position whereat said draft faces engage mating edges of adjacent blocks during pulling of said vehicle member by said draft bar member during normal upright movement of the vehicle in railway service. 